MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to
victory in their final home game of the regular season, but hope
to return to the Target Center a bit later this month.

Kevin Garnett collected 19 points and 14 rebounds as Minnesota
posted its third straight win -- all at the Target Center --
with an easy 103-93 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

"We finally put a couple of wins together at home," Garnett
said. "I said before the (three-game) homestand that protecting
the home was everything, and we did just that. Now if we can
find a way to cross that over to the road, we'll be OK."

The Timberwolves (25-23) completed their home schedule with an
18-7 record and are off the next two days before closing the
season with visits to Houston and Phoenix. They must win one of
those two games or have the Seattle SuperSonics lose one of
their final three contests to clinch their third straight
playoff berth.

Minnesota is one-half game in front of Sacramento (24-23) for
seventh place in the Western Conference and 1 1/2 games in front
of ninth-place Seattle (23-24).

"When we came back home after the road trip (0-3), I said we had
to win these three to put pressure on the other teams that are
there," Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said of the playoff
chase. "And we took care of what we had to do, which is
important. Now we have two big games on the road."

Garnett helped the Timberwolves coast in the second half by
scoring nine points in the third quarter. He also finished with
five blocked shots and five assists.

"Kevin Garnett has done a great job. He's a real leader out
there," said Clippers coach Chris Ford. "He's worth every penny
this organization is paying him. He plays with passion, and he
has an enthusiasm for the game. ... He basically does
everything."

Lorenzen Wright scored a season-high 18 points for the Clippers,
who are 1 1/2 games better than the Vancouver Grizzlies for the
league's worst record.

The Timberwolves never trailed and took command in the opening
minutes with an 11-2 run. Garnett highlighted that burst with a
tip-in and Joe Smith's free throw capped it for a 15-6 lead.

Minnesota held a 30-21 advantage after one quarter and led by at
least eight points the rest of the way. Smith scored 14 of his
18 points in the first half, helping the Timberwolves take a
58-47 lead.

Clippers rookie Michael Olowokandi opened the third quarter with
a layup, but Minnesota reeled off the next eight points. Terrell
Brandon had a runner and free throw and Garnett added a dunk and
foul shot before Sam Mitchell sank a jumper for a 66-49 cushion.

Los Angeles got no closer than 14 points until the final 70
seconds, suffering its sixth loss in the last eight games.

"We're just playing for heart, to improve," Wright said.
"Everybody tries to come out and give a full effort, but it's
real hard when basically you're playing for nothing."

Anthony Peeler contributed 14 points and eight assists for the
Timberwolves, who committed just seven turnovers and scored 18
points off 13 turnovers by the Clippers.

Maurice Taylor scored 15 points and Troy Hudson handed out 12
assists for Los Angeles, which split the four-game season series
with Minnesota.

"They had beaten us twice already, and we didn't want to let
them beat us three times," Smith said. "We knew how important
the game was, and we wanted to come out and try and put them
away early, where they wouldn't have any confidence."